This crazy song is one of the biggest hits in 2007. This is the second single in history that topped number 1 before selling a single physical copy (it was still available only as electronic downloads from the internet). Mika used here the main melody from Figaro's famous aria Largo al factotum in the opera The Barber of Seville by Gioachino Rossini. It is easy to see that he was trained as an Opera singer before he became a pop star.

I wanna talk to you {The last time we talked Mr. Smith you reduced me to tears. I promise you that won't happen again}

Do I attract you? Do I repulse you with my queasy smile? Am I too dirty? Am I too flirty? Do I like what you like?

Yeah, I could be wholesome I could be loathsomeGuess I'm a little bit shy Why don't you like me? Why don't you like me without making me try?

I try to be like Grace Kelly But all her looks were too sad So I tried a little Freddie I've gone identity mad!

I could be brown, I could be blue I could be violet sky I could be hurtful, I could be purple I could be anything you like

Gotta be green, gotta be mean Gotta be everything more Why don't you like me? Why don't you like me?Why don't you walk out the door! {Getting angry doesn't solve anything} How can I help it? How can I help it?How can I help what you think? Hello my baby, hello my baby Putting my life on the brink

Why don't you like me? Why don't you like me? Why don't you like yourself? Should I bend over? Should I look older just to be put on your shelf?

I try to be like Grace Kelly But all her looks were too sad So I tried a little Freddie I've gone identity mad!

I could be brown, I could be blue I could be violet sky I could be hurtful, I could be purple I could be anything you like

Gotta be green, gotta be mean Gotta be everything more Why don't you like me? Why don't you like me? Walk out the door!

Say what you want to satisfy yourself, hey! But you only want what everybody else Says you should want, you should want

I could be brown, I could be blue I could be violet sky I could be hurtful, I could be purple I could be anything you like

Gotta be green, gotta be mean Gotta be everything more Why don't you like me? Why don't you like me? Walk out the door!

I could be brown, I could be blue I could be violet sky I could be hurtful, I could be purple I could be anything you like

Gotta be green, gotta be mean Gotta be everything more Why don't you like me? Why don't you like me? Walk out the door!

{Humphry, we're leaving}Kaching

YOU REDUCED ME TO TEARS= You made me cry a lot.

REPULSE= To repel, to cause rejection. The opposite of "attract".

QUEASY= Causing nausea; sickening.

FLIRTY= A flirty person likes to flirt a lot. To flirt is to make playfully romantic or sexual overtures (to try to seduce other people sexually).

WHOLESOME= Physically, mentally or morally healthy.

LOATHSOME= If you are loathsome people usually hate you.

GUESS I'M A LITTLE BIT SHY= I suppose I'm a little bit shy.

WITHOUT MAKING ME TRY= Without forcing me to try to please you. If you try, you're not natural or spontaneous. Remember that after prepositions and conjunctions we always use –ING, so after WITHOUT here we use MAKING.

HER LOOKS= Her appearance.

I TRIED A LITTLE FREEDDIE= I tried to be a bit like Freddy Mercury (the lead singer from the rock band Queen).

I'VE GONE IDENTITY MAD= As far as personality is concerned, I've gone crazy because I don't know who I am, I don't know what is my true identity because I'm trying to change all the time and be someone else.

VIOLET SKY= The violet colour of the sky when it's a very deep shade of blue.

HURTFUL= A hurtful person hurts people easily.

GOTTA= I've got to.

MEAN= The opposite of nice.

WHY DON'T YOU WALK OUT THE DOOR= Why don't you go away and leave me alone!The expression "walk out the door" is commonly used to mean "leave, go away", especially if you're talking about a radical separation (and also suggests you're angry) The phrase WHY DON'T WE...? Can be a suggestion:- Why don't we go to the cinema? = Let's go to the cinema.The phrase WHY DON'T YOU...? Can be a polite or sarcastic order:- Why don't you wait here for a second? = Please, wait here for a second.- Why don't you shut up and go away? = Oh, shut up and leave!WHY DON'T YOU LIKE ME?= a question.WHY DON'T YOU WALK OUT THE DOOR?= a sarcastic order (= go away!)

HOW CAN I HELP IT?= I can't do anything about it. The expression "I can't help it" means "there's nothing I can do about it, it's impossible to stop that".

HOW CAN I HELP WHAT YOU THINK?= I can't do anything to change the way you think.

ON THE BRINK= To the limit. The BRINK is the upper edge of a steep or vertical slope (like "the brink of a cliff"), so if your life is on the brink you are about to go crazy or your life is about to be destroyed in some way.

BEND OVER= If you bend over, you are standing, your legs are still straight up but you move the rest of your body forward, like when you pick something from the ground without bending your knees. We can also use this metaphorically (and pejoratively) to express submission, that you accept the control of another person and do what they want you to do.

SHELF= (plural: shelves) A rectangular surface (usually made of wood) attached to the wall which is used to put objects on it. It is often used to put books. In this case, it is a shelf to put trophies. (see picture)

JUST TO BE PUT ON YOUR SHELF= Only to be one more in your collection of trophies.

EVERYBODY ELSE= The rest of people, all the other people.

YOU ONLY WANT WHAT EVERYBODY ELSE SAYS YOU SHOULD WANT= You have no personality, you simply like what people say you should like (and you want me to be like that too, but I refuse).

KACHING= This is not an English word but it probably is a reference to the song Ka-Ching, by Canadian singer Shania Twain, a song about how people now are so greedy and we can only think of spending money.

This song was designed to be a mocking satire of musicians who try to reinvent themselves to be popular. Mika claims the song was inspired after a bad experience with a record company executive, in which he was told he should change his style to fit more into the mainstream pop music, but he refused to change.

The lyric "So I tried a little Freddie" is a reference to Queen's Freddie Mercury, to whose singing voice Mika's has been compared.

In the song, Mika ironically points out how he can pretend to be anyone he likes to win approval - in this case the glamorous actress Grace Kelly.

The film quote at the beginning and at the end of the movie was taken from the film "The Country Girl" 1954), by Grace Kelly. In the original quote she says Mr Dodd, but Mika has changed it to Mr Smith most probably because that is the name of the record company executive he's attacking in this song.

Marita prepared a great activity sheet about this song for class use. Of interest for teachers and also to work with it at home. You can download it from here: